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Mississippi Edition: Monday, October 26th

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by Sid Scott on

Ole Miss Faculty Senate

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Ole Miss Faculty Senate Votes To Remove State Flag

Two more governing bodies of the University of Mississippi voted last night in favor of taking down the state flag on campus. This follows the actions of the Associated Student Body Senate vote along similar lines earlier in the week. The non-binding votes won't trigger any immediate action from the Ole Miss administration, which currently is involved in a search for a new chancellor. The votes do -- however -- add Ole Miss to the growing number of public institutions across the state seeking to take down the flag until it is changed and the Confederate battle emblem is removed. Three other universities and several cities have already taken down the state flag. MPB's Sandra Knispel reports from Oxford.

Republican Leaders Stump Against Initiative 42

Republican leaders in Mississippi are banding together to defeat Initiative 42 -- the education funding proposal placed on the statewide election ballot via the referendum process. The initiative calls for requiring the Legislature to fully fund public education up to the standards set by the MAEP -- or the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. Republican Party leaders held a news conference in Hattiesburg to urge people not to support the proposed amendment. Forty-two would require that the legislature fully fund education and allow a judge to force them to do so. Republicans say that's not the role of a judge. Lawmakers are elected to represent the people. Initiative 42 will be on the ballot in the statewide elections set for November. Campaigns for and against the initiative have divided the state and made the initiative the top story this election season. Gov. Phil Bryant told MPB's Desare Frazier that passage of Initiative 42 could mire the state in lawsuits for years to come.

Mental Health And Children

At least one in five children in the United States suffers some degree of poor mental health. In Mississippi alone, up to 35,000 children have severe and persistent mental health needs. But how do underprivileged children and their parents access mental health services? We spoke to Brooke McCarthy of the Southern Poverty Law Center about this. She said community-based programs work best for families -- though this help is hard to come by in Mississippi.